Plant volatile elicitor from insects

Abstract

The invention relates to fatty acids conjugated to amino acids and their derivatives that elicit the production and/or release of plant volatiles compounds which attract and/or retain beneficial insects and deter herbivorous insect feeding. These conjugates also induce plants to increase production of pharmacologically important compounds such as taxol, increase fragrance of flowers, and increase production of plant essential oil. The invention also relates to methods for isolating the compounds from herbivorous insect oral secretions and to chemically synthesizing the compounds and their active derivatives.

We claim:  
     
       1. A method for inducing a plant to produce and/or release volatile compounds which comprises 
       isolating a fatty acid conjugated to an amino acid from the saliva of herbivorous insects or chemically synthesizing said conjugate, wherein said conjugate is capable of inducing the plant to produce and/or release at least one volatile compound and  
       applying said fatty acid amino acid conjugate to a plant,  
       wherein said fatty acid amino acid conjugate is selected from the group consisting of N(17-hydroxylinolenoyl)-L-glutamine, N(linolenoyl)-L-glutamine, and mixtures thereof.  
     
     
       2. The method of claim  1  wherein said plant includes plant cells or plantlets in cell or tissue culture. 
     
     
       3. The method according to claim  1 , wherein said fatty acid amino acid conjugate is N(17-hydroxylinolenoyl)-L-glutamine. 
     
     
       4. A method for inducing a plant to produce and/or release volatile compounds which comprises 
       applying a fatty acid conjugated to an amino acid to a plant, wherein said conjugate is capable of inducing the plant to produce and/or release at least one volatile compound, wherein said fatty acid amino acid conjugate is selected from the group consisting of N(17-hydroxylinolenoyl)-L-glutamine, N(linolenoyl)-L-glutamine, and mixture thereof.  
     
     
       5. The method according to claim  4 , wherein said fatty acid amino acid conjugate is N(17-hydroxylinolenoyl)-L-glutamine.